AlumNews

From the president
I'm pleased to announce that BSAS, with help from the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, was able to bring together 25 pairs of CBS undergraduate students and alumni volunteers for a new mentoring program that kicked off in early January. This program will wrap up in May; we plan to begin next year's program in September and run it throughout the 1999-2000 academic year.

Read more about the revamped BSAS Alumni Mentor Program on the back cover; it may encourage you to think about volunteering your time to help a CBS student learn about careers in biology. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact Paul Germscheid, CBS alumni relations coordinator, at 612-624-3752 or pgermsch@biosci.cbs.umn.edu.

As mentoring committee chair Mary Jo Lockbaum says, "Our program is based on the strength of our mentors." With your help, we can make this revitalized program even stronger.

Tom Skalbeck
President, Biological Sciences Alumni Society

Parmelee memorial
As a memorial for David Freeland Parmelee, retired Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior faculty member who died in December, CBS has set up an endowed summer scholarship at the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station, with special consideration for students who have been active in the Biology Colloquium. If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution to the David Freeland Parmelee Memorial Scholarship Fund, please write a check payable to the University of Minnesota Foundation. Note on the memo line that it is for the David Parmelee Fund and send to Development Office, College of Biological Sciences, 123 Snyder Hall, 1475 Gortner Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108.

The way you were
If you've participated in the Itasca Field Sessions, please send us your memories of the experiences you had there. Itasca memories will be compiled in a book that CBS plans to publish in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station. Please send a paragraph or two to Doris Rubenstein, 123 Snyder Hall, 1475 Gortner Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108.

Save these dates
"Itasca at 90: Field Stations at the Crossroads," a symposium in honor of the founding of the University's Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station, will be held Thursday, September 30, at the Earle Brown Center on the St. Paul campus. Speakers will include Dick Calabrese of the NSF and Emory University on the magic of field stations and Dave Tilman of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior on the importance of field stations in long-term ecological studies. The symposium kicks off the Itasca 90th Anniversary Weekend, October 1-3 at the Itasca station. For more information, contact Doris Rubenstein at 612-624-3279.

BSAS kicks off new alumni mentoring program
Nearly 30 undergraduates, alumni, and friends of CBS braved bad weather and worse traffic January 12 to attend a kickoff dinner for the new Biological Sciences Alumni Society (BSAS) mentoring program-and to meet their mentorship partners.

BSAS, working with the University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA), adopted a new matchmaking technique this year: First they e-mailed students to get a list of those interested in having an alumni mentor. For each student, BSAS contacted alumni or friends of the college working in fields of interest to the student and asked if they would be willing to volunteer their time as mentors. With 25 student/mentor pairs, the program is off to a successful start.

Each pair is expected to meet at least once a month until the program wraps up in May. Aside from the meetings, "the mentoring relationship can be anything you want it to be," BSAS Mentoring Committee chair Mary Jo Lockbaum told the participants.

Though benefits to student participants are obvious, mentors have plenty to gain too, said Judy Anderson of UMAA. That includes introducing someone to a new area of knowledge; sharing your professional experiences and resources; giving back to students the mentoring experience you had; hearing about what's being taught now, since biology has changed so much in the past 20 years; reconnecting with your college; enhancing a student's experience; supporting the development of someone in your field; expanding your network of colleagues; and increasing your visibility in your field.

While mentors stand to gain from their experience, their willingness to help and commitment of time are laudable. "Thank you for taking the extra time to be a mentor," Lockbaum told the volunteers. "It means a lot to us and certainly to the students."

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